World leaders hailed the climate deal struck at COP21 as a “major leap for mankind” – and it certainly went much further than any previous attempts to achieve international consensus on a rigorous response to climate change. But as many acknowledged, Paris marks only the beginning and there is much work to do.

Both weather extremes and ‘normal’ climate patterns continue to change in ways that alarm and bemuse and intercept with other news stories. What do our experiences of the sublime and the mundane tell us of the future? Where do our local stories connect to “big pictures” of global change? How do our imaginations respond to breakthroughs such as COP21 and to the urgency and scale of what is needed now? What is the work of the writer?

A creative response

Weatherfronts will kindle creative responses to the challenges of climate change. Working with Durham University and the Writing Development Agencies in all regions of the UK, this project will generate new commissions of original writing and artistic-scientific connections to stimulate further collaborations and new opportunities for public engagement with creative works.